James 4:7 (NKJV)
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Hebrews 13: 17 (NKJV)
"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."
Romans 13: 1–7 (NKJV)
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."
1 Peter 2: 13–15 (NKJV)
"Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."
Ephesians 5: 22–24 (NKJV)
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."
1 Peter 2: 18-19 (NKJV)
"Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully."
1 Peter 5: 5 (NKJV)
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Ephesians 5: 21 (NKJV)
"submitting to one another in the fear of God."
Submission:
Submission or Submitting is a word many of us ladies feel uncomfortable with on the inside, if we are to be honest. We can say it and affirm it verbally but we sometimes wonder why we have to do it. We sometimes struggle with submission because we equate it with oppression, losing our rights, being put under, being dominated, not having a voice, being abused. Yes in our fallen world this has unfortunately been the experience of many. This is not the case however when it comes to true biblical submission.
Submission is a good word from God. When He calls us to submit He calls us to a good thing that will bless our lives. The greatest example of submission in the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He submitted fully to the will of the Father for His life, even though it cost Him His very life. Let’s look to Him as an example in this journey of submitting to God and to others.
Biblical submission is about voluntarily being subject to another. Bringing oneself under the authority of another. How does God want us to do this?
Firstly, God calls us as His daughters to submit to Him. To submit to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit at all times and in every situation. This means willingly making ourselves subject to Him. We should also submit to those who have spiritual watch over us, our church leaders. We are also called to submit to the governing authorities in our nation and to those in authority over us in the church, at work, at school etc. We are called to submit to the laws of the land we live in. For those who are married, we are called to submit to our own husbands as the Church submits to Christ. Employees are called to submit to their bosses and employers. Young people are called to submit to their elders. Finally, we are called to submit to one another, to each other.
In all of these the only times we are not to submit to man is when what we are being asked to submit to is in contradiction to God’s Word. If something is against God’s law, God’s command, then we are free from having to submit. How do we judge this or measure this? We do so based on the Word of God. A good way to go about this where possible is to explain and vocalise why we have chosen not to submit based on God’s Word, to those concerned with meekness and gentleness. It goes without saying that we are always to submit to God at all times in every situation.
Submitting as God’s Word says we should is a beautiful and wonderful thing that produces great blessings. Submission is to be done out of reverence for God and His Word. Submission takes grace, humility and the help of the Holy Spirit. So why not ask the Holy Spirit your helper to help you today. He is more than able. Remain blessed sisters!!!